Foreign An NCIS FanFic
by Betherick1985
Summary: While Ziva is on leave for an injury, Director Vance assigns a young interpreter/ translator with a unique past to work with the team on a case involving a Marine and his immigrant mother. Case-fic, no pairings as of now. Includes Original Character oc .
1. Chapter 1

"**Foreign"- An "NCIS" Fan- Fic**

**By: Betherick1985**

**Summary: While Ziva David is on leave for an injury, the team finds a dead Marine at Quantico, who has a Polish- speaking mother. Director Vance assigns a young interpreter/ translator to work with DiNozzo and McGee. Case-fic, part of a 5 (or 6) story series, the "Sweet Charity" series. Includes OC. Set within Season 7.**

**Disclaimer: I do not the characters of NCIS, I am just borrowing them for a bit.**

**Rating: K+ (Mild language, action)**

**Chapter 1**

"**So, how has work been without me so far?" Probationary Agent Ziva David asked her colleagues. She was sitting at home, with her webcam- enabled laptop, her injured right leg propped up on a pillow.**

"**Well, pretty quiet, actually," Special Agent Timothy McGee replied. "How's the leg?"**

"**Better, I suppose. I have a terrible case of, what you call, 'cabin heat'? she answered, unsure of the idiom she was using.**

"**Cabin Fever', Zee-vah," Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo replied. "Yeah, I bet this is the most time you've spent sitting in a while."**

**Ziva sighed. "Yes, it is… and I hate it."**

"**Aww, the four to six weeks will be over before you know it," Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs called out from his desk.**

"**Hi, Gibbs," she replied.**

"**You're going to have to say goodbye to the guys, Ziva," Gibbs told her. "I just received a call about a dead Marine at Quantico."**

"**Very well. Have a good day, Gibbs, Tony, Tim," she said wistfully.**

"**Bye, Ziva!" the male agents exclaimed, as Tim shut down his computer, and Tony grabbed his gear.**

"**Special Agent Gibbs?" the gravelly voice of NCIS director Leon Vance called from the top of the squadroom stairs.**

"**Yes?" Gibbs asked. **

"**May I see you for a moment, before you leave?" **

**Gibbs sighed, and jogged up the stairs. "Make it quick, Leon." He called out to his team, "I'll be there in a minute. Start up the car!"**

**Director Vance led Agent Gibbs into his office. "Have a seat."**

"**I don't have time to sit," Gibbs replied. "I have a body at Quantico."**

"**I promise, this will be brief," Director Vance assured the agent. He let out a sigh, and began to speak.**

"**I noticed that, with Agent David on temporary leave for her injury, there is an empty space in your team," he said. "You will be in need of someone who speaks a number of languages, and is a good investigator." He pressed the call button on his phone. "Send her in."**

"**Director, are you offering me a replacement for Ziva?" Gibbs asked angrily. "I could never replace her."**

"**Only temporarily," Director Vance assured him, and beckoned the young woman to come in. "This is Agent Charity Bernard, from Translation and Interpretation. She is a brilliant linguist, but she has expressed a desire to learn more about working in the field. I thought working with your team would be an excellent teaching opportunity."**

"**Good morning, Special Agent Gibbs," she said, holding out her hand for him to shake.**

**Gibbs stared at her for a minute. He recognized her from the squadroom. Usually, she was bent over her computer, her phone, or working up in MTAC. She looked young, about twenty- five or twenty- six. A couple inches shorter than he, with short, straight, reddish- brown hair, glasses, and blue eyes. A solid frame, dressed in a dark purple sweater, gray pants, and black Sketchers flats. He sighed, and stuck out his hand. "Call me Gibbs, please, Agent Bernard."**

**She smiled. "You can call me Charity, if you want."**

"**Special Agent Gibbs and his team are on their way to a crime scene," Director Vance explained. "Grab your gear, and go with them- just to observe. See how it goes."**

"**Thank you, Director," Charity said. "I really appreciate this. And thank you, Gibbs." She turned and quickly left the room.**

"**I have to admit, I thought that was going to be more difficult," Vance said, eyeing Gibbs. **

"**Well, Leon, you don't have me pegged as well as you thought," Gibbs said. "We really need to get going."**

"**I expect a full report of her day with you," Vance told him, as he left the room.**

**Gibbs jogged down the steps, and headed to the elevator, with Agent Bernard in tow.**

***~*~*~*~*~***

**Agents DiNozzo and McGee looked up when the elevator opened. Their boss had not come down alone. A young redhead had followed him to their car.**

"**DiNozzo, McGee," Gibbs said, "This is Agent Charity Bernard, from Linguistics. She'll be joining us in the field today."**

**Tim smiled, and stuck out his hand. "I'm Special Agent Timothy McGee. You can call me Tim." Charity smiled, and shook his hand.**

"**And I'm Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Tony, for short." Charity turned to Tony, and shook his hand.**

"**I know, I see you all in the squad room," she said.**

"**Everybody in the car," Gibbs ordered.**

"**Shotgun!" Tony exclaimed.**

***~*~*~*~*~*~***


	2. Chapter 2

"**Foreign"- An "NCIS" Fan-Fic**

**Chapter 2**

**Agent Charity Bernard's gaze drifted from Agent Tim McGee, on her left, to Agent Tony DiNozzo, in the front passenger seat, then to Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, in the driver's seat. Tim, knowing how uncomfortable she felt being the newbie, decided to get to know her a bit.**

"**So," Tim asked, "how long have you been working at NCIS?"**

"**Well, for a little over three years," Charity replied. "I was pretty much recruited from college."**

"**Where did you go?" he asked.**

"**I went to a small Christian college in South Carolina. My parents had gone there, so I received a significant discount on my tuition," she explained.**

"**What do your parents do?" Tony asked, turning to face the young redhead. **

"**They work with missionaries all over the world. My dad preaches, and my mom teaches English." She smiled nervously.**

"**No kidding," Tony said. "I've never met a missionary's kid before. What countries have you been to?"**

"**Well, I was born in Buffalo, NY," she told the guys, "but I've spent time in Quebec, Poland, South Africa, Japan, France, Ireland, Ukraine, Brazil, Austria, China, the UK, Italy, Israel, Egypt…"**

"**Wow," Tim exclaimed, "you definitely get around." Charity gasped, and Tony rolled his eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way…"**

**She smiled. "I know, it's fine. As far as childhoods go, mine was definitely unique. But, it gave me the opportunity to use and explore my gift."**

"**Gift?" Tony asked.**

"**Yeah, you know… everybody in life has a special talent," she explained. "Mine is languages. I happen to be able to pick up foreign languages quickly."**

"**Just how many languages do you speak?" McGee asked.**

"**Uh… fluently? Over a dozen," she answered nervously.**

"**Man, that's more than Ziva," Tony said. "Which languages?"**

"**Well, English, French, and Polish are my mother tongues. I'm very fluent in Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Ukrainian, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, and Dutch." She blushed, hoping she wasn't showing off too much.**

"**Impressive," Gibbs said from the front seat. "We're here."**

**The agents filed out of the car, and grabbed their gear from the trunk.**

"**DiNozzo, sketch and shoot. McGee, bag and tag. Charity, you can come with me and observe while I take witness statements," Gibbs ordered. "Tony, let me know when Ducky and Palmer get here."**

"**Yes, boss."**

**Charity followed her boss to the cluster of Marines gathered around the body. They glanced up at the agents as they came closer.**

"**Hello, my name is Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. This is Agent Bernard. Would you care to fill tell us what happened here?"**

**A young, dark-haired man stepped forward. "We found him here at 0500, sir. We think he was killed earlier this morning."**

"**Do you know who he is?"**

**McGee jumped up, holding a wallet in his hand. "I found his ID, Boss. His name is Lance Corporal Aleksander Kaczmarek. Twenty- two years old, from DC."**

"**What the heck kind of name is Aleksander Kaczmarek?" Gibbs barked.**

"**Polish, sir… er, Boss," Charity replied. "Aleksander is a variant of Alexander. I encountered many children in Poland with the name."**

"**Boss, Ducky's here!" Tony called out, as Dr. Mallard and his assistant, Jimmy Palmer, hopped out of the Medical Examiner's van. **

"**I see that, DiNozzo. Did you drive today, there, Palmer?" Gibbs asked.**

"**No, I did, Jethro," Ducky replied. "We were caught in traffic… hello, hello, who is this lovely young lady?"**

**Charity blushed. "This is Agent Charity Bernard, from Linguistics. Director Vance wants her to learn about working in the field," Tony said. **

"**It's a pleasure, Dr., Jimmy. I'd shake your hands, but you're wearing gloves, and I wouldn't want to contaminate the body." Charity winced as Ducky stuck the probe into the dead Lance Corporal.**

"**You got a time of death yet, Duck?" Gibbs asked.**

"**Well, based on the temperature of the liver, I'd say he expired shortly after midnight," Ducky hypothesized.**

"**So, you use a thermometer to figure out the time of death?" she asked Palmer.**

"**It's one of many methods we use," Jimmy told her. "Once we get him into Autopsy, we'll be able to get a more accurate TOD." **

"**Boss, we got a weapon!" McGee called out. **

**Gibbs, Tony, and Charity rushed to McGee, as Gibbs called out, "Get him in the van, Duck!"**

"**Charity, do you know what this is?" McGee asked, holding up a knife- like weapon.**

"**Yeah, it's a combat knife," she replied. "Standard issue for Marines. Her eyes widened with realization. "Which means that the murderer was most likely someone here at this base!" **

**Gibbs and McGee smiled, and Tony said, "Not bad, kiddo."**

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

**Back at NCIS headquarters, Ducky and Palmer started the autopsy, and McGee gave Abby the knife, wallet, and other personal effects on the Lance Corporal to test. Charity and Tony were investigating the background of the young Marine when Gibbs came into the squad room.**

"**What have you got, DiNozzo, Bernard?"**

"**Lance Corporal Aleksander Kaczmarek, Boss. Twenty-two years old, native of DC. Only child of Josef and Anna Kaczmarek. Mother was born in Warsaw, Poland, father was born in Chee… Chee…,"**

"**Cheektowaga, NY, Boss," Charity finished. "It's a suburb of Buffalo. I lived there until I was just over a year old. Anyway, they met while Josef was studying abroad for a semester. He married her shortly after that, and brought her to the States…"**

"**Together, they opened and operated a European bakery," Tony continued. "Kaczmarek's European Bakery and Deli. Very original name. It's over in Near…"**

"**Near Northeast, Boss," Charity interrupted. "A few blocks from where I live- I've driven past it before. He operated the business, and she does the baking and cooking. He spoke English, and she learned only a few phrases. Unfortunately, Mr. Kaczmarek died two weeks ago, from cancer. She is now the sole owner of the business."**

"**Are you finished?" Gibbs asked.**

"**Yes, Boss," they replied in unison.**

"**Great. DiNozzo, you take Charity with you to the bakery to question the mother. Not only will it be easier for the mother to speak to a female agent, but the fact that we have a native speaker of Polish is extremely helpful." Gibbs turned to Charity. "Have you ever questioned persons of interest in cases before, Charity?"**

"**Yes, I have, Gibbs," she answered. "I know this is not an interrogation; we are just trying to get as much information as we can from her, about her son."**

"**Then why are you still here, if you know what you're doing?" Gibbs asked with a grimace.**

**Tony pulled her arm, and lead her toward the elevator. "On it, Boss!"**

**Once in the elevator, Tony let go of Charity's arm. **

"**Is he always so…," Charity started to ask, searching for the right adjective.**

"**Yeah, pretty much," Tony said. "He would rather you do things, than talk about doing them."**

"**Gotcha. He takes some getting used to, I guess," she said with a sigh.**

"**He's actually been pretty easy on you, Charity," Tony told her.**

"**If that's easy, then I probably don't want to see him angry."**

**Tony chuckled. "You got that right, newbie."**

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***


	3. Chapter 3

"**Foreign"- Chapter 3**

**A/N: Even though it's a small number, I wanted to thank those of you that have alerted and reviewed my little fic! It gives me the confidence to keep going! In coming up with this chapter, I had to figure out how I would convey Charity's language skills when I have none. Thank heavens for Google Translate! (lol) Tell me what you think, and be honest! (And also, has anyone checked out the most recent issue of TV Guide? MAJOR Michael/ Cote awesomeness!)**

**I'll make note of it again- I don't own NCIS, or the characters. I'm just borrowing them for my stories.**

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

**Anthony DiNozzo glanced over at his young passenger as he was driving through Near Northeast. Charity Bernard was going through her notes, trying to determine how to question this poor mother that had lost her only son. Once more, she was trying to remember the correct words in Polish, as she hadn't spoken it in sometime.**

"**So, Charity… that's an interesting name," he mused. "Where did it come from?"**

**She looked over, and smiled nervously. "Well, my dad's family decided to name all us girls using what he calls 'spiritual attributes'. I have two older female cousins, and three younger ones, and all our names follow that theme: Faith, Hope, Charity, Joy, Grace, and Chastity. It's pretty cool that my aunts and uncles all agreed to that."**

"**What's your full name, then?" Tony asked. **

"**Charity Nicole Bernard," she answered. "It's sort of sounds like a movie character name, I know. Very 'Christmas Jones', like in 'The World is Not Enough'."**

**Tony abruptly turned his head to face her. "You like James Bond movies?" he asked excitedly.**

"**Well, not that one," she said with a chuckle, "but the Connery and Moore ones are good. I admit I like the Daniel Craig ones, too."**

**Tony smiled as he looked back at the road. Maybe working with this super- linguist missionary's kid wouldn't be so bad after all.**

"**Oh, there it is," Charity said, pointing to a building with red and white awning. "There's Kaczmarek's Bakery." **

**Tony parked in front of the shop, and turned off the car. "You ready for this?"**

"**I think so," she said. "If you feel like I'm forgetting to ask her something important, let me know. I want to make sure my first time out in the field goes well."**

"**I will definitely do that," he said, opening the car door. At that moment, they received a full-frontal assault of smells coming from the bakery. Scents of sugar, cinnamon, fruit, butter, fresh bread and soup wafted through the street.**

**Tony inhaled deeply. "Mmm… if the exterior smells like this, imagine what the actual bakery smells like!"**

"**I know, it's pretty awesome," she said, opening the door. "But we've got work to do. Come on."**

**An older, dark- haired woman noticed the young agents come into the shop. "Hello, how are you?" she asked in a very thick accent.**

"**Fine, thank you," Tony replied. "Are you Anna Kaczmarek?"**

"**Yes," she replied nervously, then changed the subject. "You want pastries? You like paczkis?"**

**Tony turned to Charity. "What the heck's a paczki?"**

**Charity pointed to a display of round, donut-like items in a glass case under the counter. "Those are paczkis. They're sort of like donuts, only filled with a bunch of different fruit fillings. My personal favorite is lemon."**

"**Do you have lemon ones?" Tony asked. **

"**Lemon? Yes, I have lemon. Two lemon paczkis for you?" she asked.**

"**In a second," Charity interrupted her. "My name is Agent Charity Bernard, and this is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. We're from NCIS- the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. We're here to ask you some questions about your son."**

**Mrs. Kaczmarek blinked, letting the few English words she knew sink in. **_**Navy, Criminal, questions… son. **_**"Alek?"**

"**Yes, Aleksander," Tony repeated. "Is there someplace where we can talk in private?"**

"**I… I… don't know," she stammered. "I don't know English."**

**It's fine," Charity said. "**_**Jest dobrze."**_

**Tony listened carefully as Charity spoke to the woman, and the woman replied back. She flipped the "Open" sign on the door to "Closed", and led them to a small room with a desk , a relatively new computer, and two chairs. She spoke again, and Charity sat. She motioned for Tony to do the same. Mrs. Kaczmarek spoke once they were all seated.**

"**She wants to know why we're here," Charity said, "If something happened to her son."**

"**Well, go ahead and tell her," Tony encouraged her, "But be gentle."**

**Charity sighed, and delivered the news. Tony was able to figure out that **_**"Pani Kaczmarek"**_** was "Mrs. Kaczmarek." He'd already heard it twice in the first two sentences Charity spoke.**

**Suddenly, the older woman became hysterical. **_**"Dlaczego?" **_**she screamed, and started sobbing. "**_**Kto by zrobić coś takiego?"**_

**Charity looked over at Tony, and said, " 'Why? Who would do such a thing?' is what she's saying."**

"**Tell her that NCIS is trying to figure that out," Tony replied in an annoyed voice. He hated having to tell family and friends of a loved one's passing; it was especially hard to deal with in two languages. "Ask her if she knew of anyone that has a grudge with him, or any enemies he had?"**

**Charity spoke again, translating the statement Tony had made. Anna sighed, and gave a lengthy reply.**

"**She said that he told his boss that she was here illegally, since her husband died, and never became naturalized," Charity explained. "I would wager that by boss, she meant…"**

"**Commanding Officer," Tony finished. "Maybe we have an overly Pro- American, Anti- Immigration Marine Officer that wanted to take out anyone who's aiding an illegal alien."**

"**It's possible," Charity said. "People do some strange things in the name of their country. Well, we have a motive, and weapon. That's a solid lead to follow, so I think I should wrap it up, huh?"**

"**Not yet," Tony said. "You should probably ask her what the name of his CO is. That way, we can bring him in for questioning."**

"**That's a very good point," Charity agreed. She turned to Mrs. Kaczmarek. "**_**Jaka jest nazwa twojego syna szefa?"**_

"**Corporal Ian Samuels," she answered confidently. **_**"Pamiętam dobrze imienia. Brzmi to bardzo amerykański do mnie**_._**"**_

"**What'd she say?" Tony asked.**

**Charity chuckled. "She says she remembers it because it sounded very American to her."**

"**Sounds Scottish or Irish to me," he said. "Ask her what 'Anthony DiNozzo' sounds like to her?"**

**Charity repeated Tony's question to Mrs. Kaczmarek. The older woman smiled, and said, **_**"Włoski."**_

"**Italian," Charity translated. "Now, would you say we're all done here?"**

"**Yes, I would," he replied. "I'll start the car, and you grab some of those paczkis."**

"**Should we get some for Gibbs and Tim?" she asked.**

"**Nope, this will be our little secret," Tony answered, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.**

**Charity sighed as she paid for the pastries, and thanked Mrs. Kaczmarek for all her help.**

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**


	4. Chapter 4

"**Foreign"- Chapter 4**

**A/N: I decided to get another chapter up right away- apparently the last chapter didn't go over so well. In this chapter, our friend Charity gets to meet Abby… with whom she has something cool in common! Enjoy!**

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

**The elevator door rang, and Tony stepped into the squad room, followed by Charity. Not even ten seconds were they there, when Gibbs asked, "What did you get from the mother?"**

"**Some very useful info, Boss," Tony replied, beaming. "Our Rosetta Stone here found out that Lance Corporal Kaczmarek had spoken to his CO before his death, about the mother being an illegal alien, since his dad died recently. We're thinking that his CO might be Anti- Immigration, and therefore killed someone that he thought was aiding an illegal."**

"**Sounds like a good lead," Gibbs said. "Did you get the name of the CO?"**

"**Corporal Ian Samuels, Boss," Charity answered.**

"**That's good work, you two…" Gibbs turned back to Tony, and looked down at his shirt. "Is that… is that lemon filling, DiNozzo?" **

"**Um…well," Tony replied nervously. "We interviewed her at the bakery, and they had all this good-looking stuff there, and Charity explained what the pastries were called, and…" **_**Whack! **_**Gibbs' palm connected with Tony's skull. Charity's eyes widened.**

"**You know better than to eat in the field, DiNozzo."**

"**Yes, Boss."**

_**Whack!**_** Gibbs' palm connected with Charity's skull, but not as hard. **

"**Hey! What was that for?" Charity asked.**

"**For letting him convince you to pay for those pastries," Gibbs told her.**

"**How did you… never mind," Charity sighed. "It won't happen again, Boss."**

"**DiNozzo, you're coming with me back to Quantico, to pick up Samuels," Gibbs ordered. "McGee, Charity, see if Abby has anything off Kaczmarek's personal effects."**

"**We're on it, Boss," McGee said. After Tony and Gibbs left, he called the elevator back up, to take to Abby's lab.**

"**Wow," Charity said. "My first day with you guys, and already I got the famous 'Gibbs- smack'. Guess that makes me official, huh?"**

"**Not quite," Tim said. "If you're the one to solve this case, you'll have earned your place in his eyes."**

"**Okay, understood."**

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

"**So, I've only seen Abby from a distance," Charity told Tim. "What's she like?"**

"**Well, I should warn you that she doesn't take to change easily," Tim explained. "Anytime we work with new people, or someone on our team's not here, she gets upset."**

"**So… you're saying she'll hate me?" Charity asked.**

"**At first."**

**Charity sighed. All the rumors she had been hearing about "Team Gibbs" the last three years had been proving to be true: Gibbs' gruffness, Tony's sophomoric antics, Ducky's ramblings. She stayed behind Special Agent McGee as they approached the Forensics lab. **

"**Abby?" Tim called out. No answer.**

**Charity scanned the room, and found the Goth Scientist in a separate room, at a desk. "Over there, Tim."**

"**Hmm, she must have her music on," Tim concluded. "That room's pretty much sound-proof, so unless you know sign language, you can't talk to her in there."**

"**I see," Charity said. "Do me a favor, and tap on the glass. She should feel the vibration."**

**Tim raised an eyebrow at the young agent, but did as she asked. Abby looked up. **

"**Um, hi," Charity said loudly, and much to McGee's surprise, signed at the same time. "My name is Charity Bernard. How are you, Abby?"**

**The door hissed open, and Abby bounded out- as well as anyone could bound in three inch platform boots.**

"**You know sign language?" Abby asked and signed.**

"**Yes," Charity replied and signed. "My cousin is deaf- she started teaching me when I was five, and she was six. How do you know sign language?"**

"**My parents were deaf. What are you doing on our team?" By the way Abby was speeding up her signs, Charity could tell she was feeling less friendly.**

"**Well, I told Director Vance that I wanted some field experience," Charity explained in both speaking and signing. "He told me that Agent Gibbs was a team member down, and I jumped at the opportunity to be taught by him and his team. That includes learning more about forensics." She added the last statement to hopefully get on Abby's good side.**

"**Uh, non-signer here," Tim said. "You guys can stop that now." The girls looked at Tim, and smiled. "You have anything yet, Abby?"**

"**Okay, so I tested the blood on the weapon you found- it matches the victim," Abby said. "I tried to find fingerprints on the handle, and **_**nada**_**."**

"**Probably wore gloves while he did it," Charity suggested. **

"**But, then I tested his clothes for prints," Abby continued. "Right on the shoulders I found two perfect palm prints, belonging to…"**

"**Corporal Ian Samuels," Charity finished.**

"**Yeah, how'd you know?" **

"**We interviewed Lance Corporal Kaczmarek's mother, and she gave us the name," Charity explained. "He was Kaczmarek's CO, and he had talked to him before he died. Since the father's dead, and the mother was never naturalized, the mother is an illegal, and Samuels was told that."**

"**A murder as a anti- immigration statement," Abby mused. "Hinky."**

"**Uh, 'hinky'?" Charity wondered aloud.**

"**Means, strange, weird, unusual," Tim translated. "Speaking of which, if Samuels killed Kaczmarek, why would he leave prints on his clothes?" The three of them pondered that for a second, then McGee's ringtone broke the silence. He held his i-Phone to his ear. "McGee." He listened for a couple seconds, then hung up. "They're back with Corporal Samuels. Gibbs is going to interrogate him- want to watch?"**

"**Sure," Charity agreed. "Guess we'll see you later, Abby. Hopefully you can find us something else that connects these two officers. Nice meeting you." She signed her last statement.**

"**Nice meeting you, too," Abby replied back.**

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

**Agent Bernard and Special Agent McGee watched Corporal Ian Samuels as he waited for an agent to question him. Samuels looked about McGee's age, maybe younger, with strawberry- blond hair cut into a Marine's buzz cut. He was tall, and muscular, but not too built. Gibbs opened the door, and sat down across from the Officer. Agent DiNozzo followed, and stood by the door. **

"**Why am I here?" Corporal Samuels asked.**

"**We understand that you were the CO of Lance Corporal Kaczmarek," Gibbs said, "Who was murdered early this morning."**

"**I know," he replied. " I was there when you picked up his body. He was a good Marine."**

"**We understand that, shortly before his death, he came to you with a family problem," Gibbs continued. "He told you that his mother was here illegally, since his father died recently."**

"**That's correct," Samuels said.**

"**How did he feel when he told you this?" Gibbs asked.**

"**Ah, here he goes," Tim said. "Trying the 'I'll talk to you like a shrink approach'. See what response he gets."**

"**I felt awful for him," Samuels told Gibbs. "The kid's time in the Corps was nearly over, so I told him that after he leaves, he should get her naturalized. Teach her English. His father was not right in doing so earlier, but Alek could make it right."**

"**Were you bothered by the fact that one of your men was aiding an illegal? And why did you put your hands on his shoulders?"**

"**No, sir. It's actually commonplace in the Corps, with all the young men and women enlisting that are children of migrant farmers and such," he explained. "I gave him a couple pats on the shoulders, and assured him that he could help her."**

"**He's the nice guy in this murder mystery," Charity observed. **

"**Looks that way," Tim said. "I believe him."**

"**So do I, Tim."**

"**Do you know of anyone that the Lance Corporal has contact with, that has an anti-immigration stance?" Gibbs asked.**

"**Scuttlebutt's that Alek got into it a couple times with Lance Corporal Trent Ray," Samuels admitted. **

"**Scuttlebutt is like gossip, or rumors, right?" Charity asked.**

"**You got it," Tim told her.**

"**You never did anything about it?" Tony asked. **

"**I never saw it, so I couldn't confirm it happened," Samuels said. "But Lance Corporal Ray has been written up before for disrespectful comments, so I wouldn't put it past him."**

"**Thank you, Corporal," Gibbs said. "You are free to go." He walked out, then Tony, and Gibbs.**

**Tim and Charity looked at each other. "Guess we need to do some background on Ray now."**

" **Do ya think, McGee?" Gibbs barked from the observation room doorway.**

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**


	5. Chapter 5

"**Foreign"- Chapter 5**

**A/N: We're nearing the end… but it's not the end of Charity! A heads-up for you… there will be some rather horrible names and slang being used, due to a character's persona. I'm not meaning to offend- it's the way I created the villain. Hope you enjoy anyway!**

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

"**What have you got on Lance Corporal Ray?" Gibbs asked his team.**

"**Lance Corporal Ray," Agent DiNozzo repeated. "Twenty- one years old, from Charlotte, NC. Has a discipline record as long as my arm. Been written up twice for disturbing the peace with fellow officers."**

"**I was able to get onto his Facebook page," Agent McGee added. "He belongs to a number of anti- immigration groups."**

"**He has a blog on his Myspace page," Agent Bernard said. "His language and commentary regarding immigration practices is seriously disgusting, Boss. I'm surprised no one has tried to kill him. Or at least, give him a dishonorable discharge."**

"**Is this enough to arrest him, Boss?" Tony asked.**

"**It's enough to bring him in for questioning," Gibbs told them. "McGee, DiNozzo, bring him in. Charity and I will wait for Ducky to call when he…" Gibbs' cell phone rang. "Yeah, Gibbs." The team could hear Ducky's murmuring on the other end. "Agent Bernard and I will be right down." **

**The team looked expectantly at their leader. "He's got something. You two go ahead and bring him in," Gibbs told his male agents. "We'll meet you at Interrogation Room 1."**

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

"**Ah, Jethro," Ducky called out, while bent over the corpse. "And Agent Bernard, lovely to see you again."**

"**You have a cause of death, Duck?"**

"**As suspected, the cause of death was sharp- force trauma; he was stabbed in the heart, and chest," Ducky informed them.**

"**Yikes," Charity said. "Can you prove who the murderer was?"**

"**Well, my dear, I can prove that, from the angle the stabs were made, that the murderer is left-handed," Ducky told her.**

"**That narrows it down to about ten percent of the population- including me," she said. "It wasn't Corporal Samuels, then- he's right- handed."**

"**And you know this how?" Gibbs asked.**

"**While Tim and I were in Observation, I saw him use a stylus to touch the screen on his cell phone," Charity explained. "You use it like a pen or pencil- he had it in his right hand the whole time."**

"**Well done," Ducky said. "You have quite the heightened observation, Charity."**

"**We still don't have anything concrete to connect another Marine, though," Gibbs growled.**

"_**Au contraire, **_**Jethro," Ducky said. "While removing his uniform, and examining the body, I noticed a liquid substance has dried on his clothes, face, and hair. Looked like saliva, so I had Mr. Palmer send up a sample to Abby."**

"**If that were the case, that would mean the murderer would have spit on Lance Corporal Kaczmarek," Gibbs noted.**

"**Gross!" Charity exclaimed. "Why would someone do that?"**

"**Oh, many reasons," Ducky told her. "In Western Europe, during the Middle Ages…"**

**At that moment, Gibbs' cell phone rang. Saved by the bell, Charity thought. Ducky was a sweet old man, but his knowledge on such subjects was a tad bizarre to her.**

"**Yeah, Gibbs." Abby's voice chattered excitedly into his phone. "Be right there."**

"**She's got something already?" Charity asked.**

"**She's good," Gibbs told her. "Thanks, Duck."**

"**Anytime, Jethro."**

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

"**Gibbs!" Abby shouted excitedly. "I had Major Mass Spec test that mystery liquid, on Kaczmarek's clothes, face, and hair, and guess what it was?"**

"**Saliva?" Charity asked. "And what's a 'Major Mass Spec'?"**

" **Correct! Oh, and Mass Spectrometer," Abby explained. "One of the many soldiers in my forensics army."**

"**Ah."**

"**The man that killed Lance Corporal Kaczmarek must've really hated him," Abby said. "That's pretty disgusting to spit on someone, not to mention stupid, from a forensics point of view."**

"**Were you able to run the DNA from the saliva?" Gibbs wanted to know.**

"**Done, and done," Abby said. "The DNA matched a Lance Corporal Trent Ray."**

"**That's good work, Abs," he told her. "Charity?"**

"**Apparently, I'm supposed to give you this," Charity said, revealing an extra large Caf- Pow! from behind her back. **

"**Oooh, thanks! All this testing made me thirsty," Abby said. Where's Tony and McGee?"**

"**On their way in with Ray," Charity told her. "We had done some background on him- we just needed the DNA to confirm it. So, thank you!"**

"**You're welcome," Abby said, eyeing the young agent as she left with Gibbs.**

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

"**Nice work, Abs?" Charity said, her voice climbing higher with each syllable. "I was the one that established the connection, by talking to the mother in the first place. Which lead us to Samuels, who then told us of Ray…"**

"**I know," Gibbs said. "Which is why I'm letting you interrogate Ray."**

"**Really? Wow, thanks," Charity replied sheepishly. "Sorry I got so worked up…"**

"**Don't apologize, Charity," he ordered. "It's a sign of weakness."**

"**Yes, Boss." The two agents stayed quiet for the duration of the elevator ride. They exited the elevator, and met Tony and McGee at Interrogation Room 1. **

"**He's in there, Boss," Tony said. "Whenever you're ready."**

"**Oh, I'm not interrogating him," he told his senior agents. "Charity is. I'm standing guard by the door."**

"**Charity? Why her, if I may ask?" McGee said.**

"**You may not," Gibbs said. "Is that a problem?"**

"**No, Boss," the men replied in unison, and went into Observation.**

"**You think she can break him?" McGee asked Tony.**

"**Well, Tim, if she's as good at interrogating as she is at questioning family members, I think she'll be fine," Tony assured the younger man. "Oooh, here she comes."**

**Charity confidently walked into the room, and sat facing Lance Corporal Trent Ray. He looked the same age as Kaczmarek, with blond buzzed hair, and blue eyes. The All-American guy, Charity thought to herself as Gibbs stood in his place by the door.**

"**So, Lance Corporal Trent Ray," Charity began, "Do you know why you're here?"**

"**No idea, ma'am." Charity knew it was meant to be respectful, but she **_**hated**_** being called "ma'am", especially at only age twenty- five.**

"**We are investigating the death of Lance Corporal Aleksander Kaczmarek," she explained. A flicker of recognition flared in Ray's eyes. "We understand that you were in the same unit."**

"**That's right, ma'am." He folded his arms. "But we weren't friends." **

"**Did you have any contact with him at all?" she prodded.**

"**You mean, did I have a problem with him?" he replied angrily. "We had…differing opinions."**

"**Would those differing opinions be in regard to immigration policies?" Charity glared at him.**

**He gave an evil chuckle. "I guess you've heard some scuttlebutt about me, ma'am. You should know better than to believe such crap." He pushed his chair back, and stood up. "This is ridiculous."**

"**Sit down, please," she ordered him. "I'm not through with you yet."**

"**Well, I'm done with you, Red." he practically spat out the last word.**

"**Sit down, Marine!" Charity barked. Tony and Tim looked at each other. **

"**Whoa," Tony whispered.**

**Lance Corporal Ray sat back down. "We've done some background on you, and found out that you have been written up for disrespectful language towards fellow officers," Charity said. **

"**Oh, did that dumb Polack whine about me?" he sneered.**

"**Not just him, I'd say," she told him. "And what makes him dumb, if I may ask?" **

"**I heard him talking to his mom on the phone," he said. "The kid was speaking some retarded jibberish."**

"**It was Polish," she said, her voice rising.**

"**Well then, some retarded Polish," he said with a smirk. **

"**I speak Polish," she said. "What does that make me?"**

"**You speak English, though," he shot back. "Anybody that doesn't make an effort to learn English should be deported."**

"**My dad didn't learn most of his English until he came here for college," I told him. "He spoke French."**

"**Well, he should've stayed in France," he retorted.**

"_**Il est originaire de Quebec," **_**she replied.**

"**What the hell?" he yelled.**

"_**Maintenant, vous voulez le tuer, lui aussi? Ou moi, salaud?**_**" she continued to speak in French, to rile him up. "**_**Suis-je vous faire peur, crétin? Voulez-vous me poignarder prochaine?**_**"**

"**Stop that, right now!" he shouted. "I can't take it anymore!"**

"**Or what? You'll kill me? Like you did Kaczmarek?" she snapped. "You overheard him talking to Corporal Samuels, about his mom being an illegal alien. It ticked you off, not just that she was here illegally, but that no one cared. You were so mad, that you confronted him, and spit in his face! Then, you stabbed him in the heart! That's what happened, right?"**

**He looked down at her, evil burning in his eyes. "He deserved it. After his sorry butt is buried, then his mother should go back to Poland, where she belongs."**

**Charity motioned for Gibbs to come forward. "Lance Corporal Trent Ray," he began, "you are under arrest for the murder of Lance Corporal Aleksander Kaczmarek. You have the right to remain silent. Anything that you say can, and will be used against you in a court of law…"**

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~***


	6. Chapter 6 Epilogue

"Foreign"- Epilogue

A/N: We've reached the end! Pretty exciting… thanks to all of you that read my first ever fan-fic! Keep an eye out for the second one in my "Sweet Charity" series, called "Inferno"! I'll start posting around the beginning of February! 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ziva David was laying on her couch, aimlessly flipping through the channels with her remote. It was nearly nine in the evening, and she hadn't had dinner yet. She was considering between Chinese and Mexican when she heard a knock on her door. She reached for her crutches, and hobbled over to check the peephole. Tony stared back, with McGee, Abby, and an unfamiliar redhead in tow.

"Hey, Zee-vah, you there?" Tony called out. She slid the dead bolt, and opened the door.

"Hey, what are you doing walking around?" McGee asked. 

"I was about to order some dinner," she said, nervously eyeing the redhead.

"No need," Abby said cheerfully. "We brought Chinese! Go back to your couch, and we'll get plates and silverware." Tony headed toward the kitchen and took some plates from a cabinet, McGee found some silverware in a nearby drawer, and Abby cleared off the coffee table.

The young stranger looked at the Israeli agent. "Um, I haven't formally introduced myself yet. I'm Agent Charity Bernard, from Linguistics. You can call me Charity." She stuck out her hand. 

"Ziva David. I believe I've seen you in the squad room. What brings you here this evening?"

"Well, Director Vance, in your absence, assigned me to work with the MCRT," Charity explained. "I've been wanting to learn how to do field work, and so he put me with Special Agents Gibbs, McGee, and DiNozzo."

"And how is that working out for you?" Ziva asked.

"Great," Charity replied enthusiastically. "I was able to help them out with the case they had today."

"Help?" Abby said. "Charity, because you were able to communicate with the Lance Corporal's mom, you were able to lead us to the suspect!"

"Did the mother not know English?" Ziva asked.

"Very little," Tony said, helping her down onto the couch. "She spoke Polish."

"I do not even speak Polish," Ziva stated. "How do you know Polish, Charity?"

"I lived in Poland for a time, and my mom and grandparents speak it," she explained.

"Then, she interrogated the murderer, and scared the crap out of him by shouting at him in French," Tony said. "Sounds like something you'd do, Ziva."

As they all sat down around Ziva's coffee table, ready to dig into the assorted rice, noodles, chicken, beef, and pork dishes spread out, McGee asked, "By the way, Charity, what _was_ that you were shouting at Lance Corporal Ray?"

She smiled mischievously at the male agents. "Look it up."

*LE FIN*


End file.
